Concession workers at John Wayne Airport who were laid off during the peak of the pandemic have lodged complaints with the state, claiming that Bambuza Hospitality Group, the new operator of the airport’s concession locations, failed to rehire them when business picked up again. These 37 non-union employees argue that this is a violation of Senate Bill 93.
On Friday, September 8, Unite Here Local 11 filed the complaints with the state Department of Industrial Relations on behalf of the workers. Bambuza, a Portland-based hospitality group, took over three concession locations at the airport in July 2021. The locations now operate as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf franchises, previously operated by the workers’ former employer, Host International.
According to SB 93, Bambuza is required to offer positions to qualified workers who were employed by the previous operator. The legislation, enacted in 2021, offers job protection to approximately 700,000 workers in California’s airline catering, cooking, housekeeping, and waiting industries who were laid off during the COVID-19 crisis.
One of the complainants, Avelino Flores, had been working for Host International since December 2015, stocking and cleaning one of the Starbucks locations at JWA. He was laid off on March 18, 2020, as the pandemic escalated. Since then, he has experienced difficulties finding full-time employment. The 65-year-old Westminster resident emphasized the challenge of paying their $1,250-a-month rent for their apartment. Prior to his layoff, he was earning $13.30 per hour.
Flores stated, “No one from Bambuza has reached out to me.”
Ada Briceno, co-president of Unite Here, commented on the intentions behind SB 93. “The intent of the law is that workers who have dedicated years of service to these companies could be fairly brought back to work. We have seen time and time again how corporations try to go around the law, but brave workers like Avelino are standing up to that.”
Efforts to obtain comments from Bambuza representatives on Friday were unsuccessful.
Another worker, Penelope Guzman, was also left jobless at one of the concession locations. In her complaint, Guzman stated, “I have never received any written notice offering me any position from Bambuza at its Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf franchises, whether by mail, email, or text message.” She believes she should be reinstated under SB 93.
Bambuza is not the only airport concessionaire that has encountered issues with SB 93. Last month, California regulators levied a $1.2 million fine against Flying Food Group for delaying the rehiring of 21 laid-off workers during the pandemic. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement claims that the airline catering company failed to properly rehire employees in order of their hire date at its Inglewood and San Francisco facilities, which violates the Senate bill.
Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower commented on the citation, saying, “This law was intended to end the displacement of workers during the pandemic due to no fault of their own, and that’s exactly what we are pursuing in this case.”
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
